Hopefully the Giants got pretty good at dealing with injuries during the early part of the season, because it doesn't seem they have gotten past the problem just yet.
Ahmad Bradshaw cracked a bone in his foot against the Dolphins last Sunday and is out indefinitely, according to a report from Mike Garofalo of the Newark Star-Ledger. Bradshaw is reportedly considering surgery and will definitely be out for Sunday's game against the Patriots.
Bradshaw has had problems with both his feet and ankles for many years, including surgery to insert screws in his feet.
When he left the Dolphins game with a foot injury, x-rays showed that one of the screws was to blame for his pain and he was able to return to the game because there was not believed to be any significant damage.
That diagnosis has changed, obviously, and it does raise a question about what Bradshaw was doing back in the game so quickly if there was any doubt about his condition. There's no evidence that the decision is what led to the more serious injury, but a quarter without Bradshaw is certain;y a better outcome than several games without him.
There isn't much worse news the Giants could get right now. Confident or not, they are about to embark on a very tough stretch of schedule and they may not have one of their most important offensive players for the journey.
No Bradshaw means a heavy dose of Brandon Jacobs, something that doesn't fill you with much confidence about the chances of turning around their dismal rushing game in the weeks to come. Jacobs hasn't done much of anything on the field this season, choosing to complain about his role in the offense instead of taking advantage of opportunities when they are given to him on the field.
He's not as good a back as Bradshaw in any phase of the game and he is a much less effective pass catcher out of the backfield. That takes away a nice option for Eli Manning to use when he isn't able to get the ball deep to his wide receivers and may open a door for D.J. Ware or Da'Rel Scott to get more snaps if they prove more useful in that role.
U.S. & World
Whether or not one of those guys can pick up some of the slack, more of the burden for moving the offense is going to fall on Manning right now. It is hard to imagine such a thing is even possible given how much of the load he's been carrying this season, but we're going to find out if it is something that Manning can pull off without the Giants falling back in the standings.
Life just got a bit more difficult for the Giants, but at least they have some experience playing without key players this season.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
